Safe or vault door lock



(Model.) I 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

W. M. BROWN, J1".

SAFE 0F. VAULT DOOR LUCK. No. 393,883. 8 Patented Deo. 4, 1888.

ATTORNEYS.

N PETERS, PnnmLiuwgmphur. wmhmgmu. n.0.

3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

V(Model.)

W.V M. BROWN, Jr. .SAFE OR VAULT DOOR. LOOK.

No. 393,883. Patented Decyll, 1888.

INVENTOR I ATTORNEYS WITNESSES:

N. PETERS. Plmw-lixhngmpher, washinglun. D. c.

(Mndel.)

ATTORNEYS Patented Deo. 4, 1888.

,om t e e h Sv A s t e e h s 3 K. TML rDn... Nw WD Om RU BA .V MR .0 WE n... A Y S WITNESSES:

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

VILLIAM MAINLAND BROVN, JR., OF SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA.

SAFE OR VAULT DOOR LOCK.

SPECIFICATON formingpart of Letters Patent No. 393,883, dated December 4, 1888.

Application filed February 8,1883. Serial Nol 263,391. (Model.)

`.To a/ZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM MAINLAND BROWN, J r., of Sacramento, in the county of Sacramento and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safe or Vault Door Locks, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to safe or vault door locks and fastenings, and has for its principal object to provide a simple, inexpensive, and efcient lock and set works of this charact( r by which a safe or vault door will be automatically locked when it is closed, and will be unlocked automatically at any predetermined time at which a clock mechanism of the lock set-Works may be set prior to closing the door, the construction and operation of the lock and setfworks being such as to give no clue to their location or arrangement on the safedoor, and thus frustrate burglarious intent. VThe invention consists in certain novel features of construction and combinations of parts of the lock and set-works and fitting of the door, all as hereinafter described and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming apart of this specification, in which similar letters and figures of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure lis an inside face view of a safe- .door partly broken away, and with its inner door removed and with my improved bolt and set works applied, the bolts being shown in positions for holding the door locked. Fig. 2 is an inside face view of the door partly broken away, and shows the bolt-works in the positions they have when the door is open and just prior to closing it. Fig. 3 is a hori- Zontal section through the door and the front portion of a safev or vault to which the door is fitted, the door being open a little. Fig. l is an enlarged detail view of the main shifting bolt or bar and its elbow-lever and connected spring. Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail vertical sectional elevation of the detentdevices by which the bolt-works are held prior to the closing of the door. Figs. 6, 7, and S are detail views showing the cam-lever devices employed for forcing the safe door tightly closed, and Fig. 9 is a detail sectional view across the joint of the safe-door with the body of the safe.

The safe or vault door A is made, principally, of a series of steel and iron plates laid in alternate layers and firmly bolted together to constitute a fire and burglar proof struct ure, which at the edges is provided with a series'of rabbcts, a, iitting into corresponding rabbets, b, at the front of the body B of the safe or vault. Into rabbets on the door A and safe-body B are fitted two strips, C C, made, preferably, of rubber, and which, when the door is closed, press tightly against opposing metal faces of the door and safe-jamb to assure` a very tight joint, which is both water and powder proof. These packin o'-strips C are shown most clearly in Fig. 9 of the drawings. The door is hinged to the safe-body by suitable hinges, o', and at its free edge is provided with a cam-lever device for forcing it tightly closed, and which will be next described. This door-closing device consists, mainly, of a handle, D, which has a wrist, d, which is j ournaled in a suitable bearing,E, fixed to the outer face of the door. This handle D d is lprovided with a groove, df, into which enters a pin, e, passed through the bearing E to hold the handle to the door. In its extremity the handle-wrist is provided with a pin, dwhich is set'eccentrically, and as the door is closing,

and while the handle D is held in the position shown in Fig. 6 of the drawings, enters the horizontal part f of' a slot, f, made in a plate or keeper, F, andas the door about closes the handle-pin cl2 enters the vertical part f2 of the slot f, and when the handle D is forced downward to turn its wrist d in the bearing E the eccentric-pin d2 will,by action in the part f2 of the slot f, force the door A tightly closed, and especially so at the packing C of the door-joint. As the door A closes, a series of fixed studs, o?, on its hinged edge enter a corresponding series of recesses, b2, in the doorjamb to act as holdfast-bolts at this edge of the closed door. (See Figs. l, 2, 3, and 9 of the drawings.) I also provide the door A with a knob, D', which extends but an inch or two into the door, and may be grasped to assist in opening the door.

l purpose fitting an inner door, B', within IOO an inner rabbet, il', of the sate-body, and preferably by hinging it atl ifi ati one Side edge, and at its opposite edge this door B will be provided with a loek, 132, whieh may be a combination-loek, or one notv easily picked in a Short time, and whieh eau be opened only by the proper personn This door eloses the inner safe or vault: against unauthorized persous should the main outer door, A, open or unlock autoniatieally before the person operating the lot-k l? arrives. A ring, il", on the door 3' faeilitates opening oi' it.

I will next deseribe the bolt and set works on the main door A, and whieh are the principal features of my invention, as follows: The bolt and setl works are arranged within a chamber formed at the inner taee ot' the door A, the bolts being arranged in three series, one Series, G, of them extending down the free side edge of the door, and the two other series, Il I, ranging along the top and bottom of the door, respeetively. The bolts (t Il I are tixed to plates y ,l1 i, respectively, to eause eaeh series to move together, or as one bolt'. The outer ends of all the bolts are tltted for projection through the edge ot' the door into the jamb ot the sat'e or vault, and their inner parts are fitted in suitable guides or keepers, g h i", tixed to the door. One of the series of bolts G is preferably prolongedy inward horizontally to forni a bar, I, whieh I eall, the main looking-bar, and whieh slides in keepers j, fixed to the door. 'lhis bar .l may, however, be made separate tromthe bolts (l, and may be fixed to the plates g, Connecting said bolts, and in substantially the saine manner as the vertieally-ranging bars l( L are tixed to the top and bottom series ot' bolts ll I, respeetively. Said bars K L slide in keepers 7.1 I, tixed to the door, all as mostl Clearly shown in Fig. l of the drawings. Linksm nnwhieh are pivotally eonneeted at; one end to the inner ends ot the bolt-bars l Il, are pivoted at their other ends to one end of elbow-levers )l M, whieh are fuleruined at nl at their angles to the door A, and at their other ends are eonneeted pivotally, preferably by the saine bolt, ym2, with the main locking-bar J, and whereby as this bar .l is moved endwise t0 projeet or withdraw the bolts (i the other series of bolts Il I will simultaneously be proieeted or withdrawn.

A bar, N, whieh is titled to slide in keepers n n on the door A and at right angles to the main bar J, is adapted to enter or loek behind a shoulder, n, at the inner end of the bar J, and is also adapted to rest at its lower end upon a shoulder, o, formed on a trip-lever, 0, whieh is fulerumed at o at its lower end to the safe-door A, and at its upper end is eonneeted to a tape or eord, l), the other end of whieh is attached to a spring-barrel deviee, R, operated by the works of eloek mechanism S, tiXed to the safe-door. A roller or pin, p, guides the tape or eord l from the lever to the spring-barrel, anda spring, o", held at one, end to the door A between pins or otherwise,

presses by its free end on the lever (l, to normally hold it over into position to support the bar N, as shown in Fig. l of the drawings.

The eloek mechanism S has a dial preferably divided or graduated into hours from l to 24, and itsl hand s may be set to cause the springdiarrel R at any predetermined time to draw on the eord l and lever (I), to pull the lever-shoulder o from under the bar N and allow a spring, "l, whieh eonneeted at. one end to this bar and at the other end to the door A, to draw the bar downward or elear ot' the shoulder n of the main bolt-bar J, to allow a spring, l", eonneeted to the bar .l and the door A, to draw the bar inward and simultaneously withdraw the bolts (i ll l from the jamb ot' the safe or vault door to unlock the door. tollars/ u on the bars .l and N respeetively strike bearings of said bars to limit the throw oi' the bars by their springs 'tl ll, as will be understood from Fig. 2 ot' the drawings, whieh shows the bolts withdrawn in the manner last above deseril'ied.

One ofthe ehief features of my invention is the arrangement ot' the loek to automatieally throw the bolts G ll l into the safe or vault jamb as the door is closed, to securely loek the door, and atl the saine time allow the automatie setting of the trip-lever O to prevent opening ot' the door until the desired time, when it op'ens of itself, and all this is aeeomplished without; the use of an outside knob or deviee whieh eould in any way 'diselose the arrangennntof the bolt works ol the door. 'lo elteet` these workings of the bolty and set works of the door, I eniploy two springs, Y eaeh of whieh aetsin eonneetiou with a sliding pin and elbow-lever deviee, made alike and eonneetei'l one deviee with the main bolt-bar .I and the otherdevice with the bar N, the springl Y working at the bar .l and th(` spring W at the bar N, as presently deseribed. 'lhis sliding pin and elbowlever deviee is shown most elearly in Fig. Jr of the drawings, and in eonneetion with the bar .l and the spring whieh spring rests on a shelf, r, ixed to thedoor A. This spring is fastened at one end, 1", to the door A, and at its other end is provided with a loop or eye, 1'?, whieh is adapted to be slipped upon one end of a pin, X, whieh is litted loosely in a transversely-ranging hole made in the bar J, and is provided at its other end with a pin, .1',whieh enters a slot, y, in the end of tho long arm of an elbow-lever, Y, whieh is fulorumed at y at its angle to a split ring or eollar, .l,elan1ped to the bar J. 'lhe short arm of the elbtnv-lever is provided with a slot, y?, ranging at a right angle to the slot l/, and into whieh is passed a pin, Z, whieh is tixed to the safe-door A.

ltr is obvious that as the bar J is moved endwise and outward the elbow-lever VY will be operated to lower its long arm and draw the pin X down or partly through the bar J, and withdraw it from the loop r2 of the spring IOC) IIO

V to release this spring at proper time. A' like elbow-lever Y and pin X and ixed pinA Z are provided at the bar N, in connection with a spring, W', held at one end, w', to the door A, and having at its other end a loop,

2v2, which may be engaged with the horizon-4 `This yoke 3 is fitted at its opposite end portions, i 5, into the inside plate, and one of the outer plates, 7, of the doorA, and springs S, connected to the yoke or bar 3 and doorplate (i, normally project the en d 4 of the yoke beyond the face ot" the plate ti, so that the yoke may be forced outward as the door A closes by contact of its protruding end with the door-jamb, the end 5 ot' the yoke then moving' in a recess, 9, made in the door-plate 7 as a guide to the yoke. This outward movement of the yoke or bar .3 withdraws its pin 2 from the notch l of the bar J and leaves itA free for movement inward by the spring U, as presently explained. These detent devices are most clearly shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings.

A door, A', is hung by hinges a3 at the inner face ot' the main door A to cover or close the chamber containing the lock and set works, and said door A is provided with a suitable lock, A2, to prevent opening it and frustrate tampering with the sate-lock mechanism. A ring, a, on the door A 'facilitates opening of it.

The operation ot' the lock and set works is as follows: \Vhen the door A is open, its bolts G H I are withdrawn within it, and the barsJ N and trip-lever O are in the position shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, and the pin 2 of the detent'yoke or bar 3 is engaged in the recess l of the bar J. lVhen the lock and set works are to be adjusted prior to closing the door A, its inner door, A,will be opened and the hand s ot' the clock mechanism S will be set at the time the door is to open. The springs V IV will now be engaged with the pins X of their respective levers Y Y at the bars J N, the tension of these springs V l being greater than the tension ot' the springs U T, connected to said bars J N. When all the parts are adjusted, as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, the door A will be closed and locked, and the main door A will then be closed, and while it is about closing the pin 2 ot the detent-yoke 3 will be disengaged from the bar J by contact ot the yoke with the door-jamb, which leaves the spring V free to draw the bar J outward, and thereby shoot all the bolts G H I into the door-jamb, and the spring IV also draws the bar N upward and engages it behind the shoulder n of the bar J, to prevent withdrawal of it or ofthe bolts G H I, and the spring o2 will throw the shoulder o of the .tighten the door A when it was closed.

lever O under the bar N, to prevent falling of it from the shoulder n of the bar J. Endwise movements of the bars J N sufficient to shoot the bolts and set the bar N behind the shoulder a, as above described,will also withdraw the pins X of the levers Y and release or drop the springs V NV, which no longer act on the bars J N, thus leaving the springs U T free to act when the lever O is tripped from under the bar N. \Vhen the proper time arrives for the door A to open, the mechanism of the clock S will canse the spring-barrel R to wind the tape or cord P on itself and pull the lever O to one side and trip it from beneath the bar N, which then will be instantly drawn downward by the spring T to release the bar J, thus leaving the spring U free to draw the bar J baclnvard and withdraw the bolts G H I from the door-jamb, thus unlocking' the door, which may then be opened after the handle D is turned to clear its pin d? of the slot f of jambfplate F had it been used to The bolt and set works now occupy the positions shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, except that the springs V \V will be (lisengaged from the pins X of the levers Y, as shown in Fig. l, and will remain so until the'lock mechanism is to Abe again set prior to closing thedoor, and in a manner readily understood from the aforesaid description.

Having thus 'fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

y l.. In safe and vault door locks, the combination, with a bar, J, movable endwise on the door and connected to its bolts to project or withdraw them, of a bar, N, movable on the doorfand adapted to engage the bar J, to prevent its movement, a clock mechanism ou the door, a spring-pressed lever, O, fulerumed on the door and provided with a shoulder, o, adapted to prevent disengagement of the har N from the bar J, a pull-cord or device connected to the lever O, and the clock mechanism tor tripping said lever from the bar N at any time to which the clock mechanism had been set, and springs U T, connected to the door and to the bars J N, respectively, and operating to disengage the bars N J and withdraw the doorebolts, substantially as described, for the purposes set forth.

2. In safe and vault door locks, the combination ot bars J N, adapted for engagement for holding projected the door-bolts connected to the bar J, springs U T, adapted, respectively, to disengage the bars J N and withdraw the lock-bolts when a retaining device is tripped from said bar N, a detent yoke or bar, 3, engaging the bar J and projecting for contact with the door-jamb to disengage the detent from the bar J as the door closes, springs V XV, connected to the door, pins X X, fitted in the bars J N, and to which pins the springs V \V maybe detachably connected, and levers Y Y, fulcrumed on the bars J N and engaging the pins X to withdraw them when IOO IIO

the bars are moved endwise to release or drop the springs V and allow the sprin U T to act, substantially as described, for the purposes set forth.

3. In safe and vault door locks, the combinationavith bars .l N, adapted for engagement to hold projected the door-bolts connected to the bar J, springs lY 'l", adapted, respectively, to disengage the bars .l N and withdraw the lock-bolts, a detent voice or bar, 3, engaging the bar .I and projecting t'or contact with the door-jamb when the door closes, springs Y connect ed to the door, pins X X, litted in the bars .I N, and to which the springs may be detaehably connected, levers Y Y, ful- Orumed on the bars J N and engaging the pins X to withdraw them when the bars are moved endwise to release or drop the springs l V \\v and allow the springs ll T to act, a springpressed lever, t'ulcrumed on the door and provided with a shoulder, o, adapted to prevent disengagement of the barN from the bar determined time, all constructed and ar-1 ranged t'or operation substantially as de-j f end i of the yoke beyond the inner face oi scribed, for the purposes set Forth.

l. In safe and vault door locks, the eombi- 1 nation, with a bar, J, movable endwise on the vice engaging the bar .l and projecting' from the door for contact with the door-jamb as i the door closes, a spring, V, held to the door,

a pin, X, fitted to the bar J and adapted for engagement by the spring V, a lever, Y, fulerumed to the bar J and adapted to engage a pin, a, in the pin X, and a pin, Z, in the door and engaging the lever Y, substantiall v as described, for the purposes set ii'orth.

5. In safe and vault door looks, the combination, with a bar, N, fitted to slide on the door and adapted to retain a bar operating the lock-bolts, ot.' a spring, T, connected to the door and to the bar N, a detent device for the bar N, and to which the spring T holds said bar in a manner allowing tripping of said deient device, a spring', YV, held to the door, a pin, X, fitted to the bai-N and adapted to engage the spring W, a level', Y, t'nlcrumed to the bar N and adapted to engage a pin, in the pin X, and a pin, Z, in the door and engaging' the lever Y, substantially as described, for the purposes set forth.

li. In sate and vault door locks, the detent device for the main bolt-throwing bar ot' the lock-Works, consist/ing of a yoke or bar, 3, fit ted to slide in the door and having a stem or pin, 2, adapted toa notch, '1, ot' the bar J, and springs S, normally throwing the voke il'iward to engage tho barmoteh and to project the the door to assure its Contact; with the jamb to release the bar .l as the door closes, substantialllvas described, for the purposes set forth.

WILLIAM MAINLAND BROWN, Jn.

Witnesses:

J. F. BROWN, Jr., C. Il. OATMAN. 

